St Ninians Isle Description of stone
Event ID 1015192
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Early Medieval Carved Stones Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1015192
St Ninian’s Isle 4, Shetland, shrine post
Measurements: H 0.89m, W 0.23m, D 0.15m
Stone type: sandstone
Place of discovery: HU 3685 2090
Present location: Shetland Museum, Lerwick (ARC 6684)
Evidence for discovery: found during excavation in 1957 in the rectangular structure dubbed the ‘Founder’s Tomb’.
Present condition: very worn.
Description
The upper part of this post is dressed while the basal portion has been left rough. It has three decorated faces, A, B and E, and two grooved faces. The grooves are 0.55m long. The two vertical decorated faces have plain flatband borders formed by pecked lines: face A bears two opposing S-dragons with crossed fore-legs and spiral tails, above a double spiral, while face B is carved partly in relief with three continuous triple spirals. Face E, the top of the post, is carved in relief with an oblong boss which is very worn but may once have borne decoration.
Date: eighth or ninth century.
References: Thomas 1973, no 3; Scott & Ritchie 2009, no 34.
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016.
